President Donald Trump’s Monday night executive order on the creation of an “Iron Dome for America” calls for much more than the air defense system Israel utilizes. The order calls for “a next-generation missile defense shield” to protect the homeland.

When it comes to protecting U.S. territory from missiles fired by such nuclear-powered countries as Russia, China, and North Korea (which is Trump’s goal in ordering this project), something like Iron Dome would have no capability whatsoever; and

The first Trump administration floated a space weapon concept in March 2018: a neutral particle beam in space. But it ultimately shelved the idea because of the massive amount of power needed to destroy a missile with directed energy.